


Of Boob Armor and Social Media

by Ressick



Series: A Ranger's Work Is Never Done [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10714980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ressick/pseuds/Ressick
Summary: Kim has a bone to pick with Zordon.  So does Trini.





	Of Boob Armor and Social Media

**Author's Note:**

> This is really really not what I'm supposed to be writing, but I couldn't help it. The movie was so good. I just had one little complaint...

Trini had seen a lot of weird shit since she became a Power Ranger.A _lot_ of weird shit.But there was something about coming onto their ship’s bridge - or at least that’s what Zack, the giant nerd, called it - to find Kim arguing with Alpha 5 and Zordon while pointing at her laptop screen that still jarred her with its inherent oddness.When Kim noticed her, she heaved a sigh of relief.“Trin!Come tell these two that boob armor is dangerous _and_ uncomfortable!” 

“The morphing grid cannot be reprogrammed at a whim,” Zordon said from the wall.

“This isn’t a whim,” Kim insisted, looking to Trini for backup.“Humans have been building armor for as long as we’ve been fighting, so, like, forever.We’ve _proven_ that the style of armor we girls currently have is ineffective and leads to more damage after chest hits.”

“It is meant to be form-fitting,” Alpha 5 stated, staring at whatever Kim has displayed on her laptop.

“Yeah, but you gotta consider human anatomy, and the morphing grid really isn’t, right now.It’s like it’s something some douchebag guy created for his internet porn,” Kim grimaced.“It’s sexualizing us in a way that the guys’ armor doesn’t sexualize them, and that’s gross.”

Trini snorted, “You’ve been scrolling through DeviantArt, haven’t you?”

“Nah, tumblr.There are some great redesigns people have posted.And an entire boob armor discourse I can barely follow cuz it’s gotten so big,” Kim waved Trini over and pointed to the screen where an artist’s sketch was displayed.Instead of the morphing boob cups they currently had, the design gave a bit more space in the chest than the boys’ armor had, with a very subtle outward curve, but without distinct “boob cups” _or_ the obnoxious wedge heels Trini had already tripped in while training - three times.“Boob armor is sexist garbage and why the morphing matrix thinks we need heels is beyond me.”She turned to Alpha 5 and Zordon, “Has one of you been letting the computer hang out on 4chan or something?”

Trini pointed at the computer screen.“Give us this.Now.I am going to kill myself in those heels and I’ve already stretched out three sports bras because of those stupid boob cups.”

Alpha 5 seemed to cower away from the enraged Yellow Ranger.“I will readjust the morphing matrix to give you what you have requested!”

“And give our boots some decent tread, okay?” Kim grinned triumphantly.

 

The morphing grid took three hours to be reprogrammed while Alpha 5 eventually admitted that yes, they had let the ship’s computer connect to the human internet as soon as it was developed, as existing buried in a pit for 65 million years was kind of boring and Alpha 5 thought “badger badger badger mushroom mushroom” the height of humor.Unfortunately, that made for a computer system that was a proto-meninist and needed a swift kick in the circuits.

 

The first morph after the armor redesign had all three of the boys oooh-ing and ahhh-ing, with Zack eventually getting a backhand for his, “Hey, crazy girl, you’re your actual height now!” comment.Without the heels, Trini found it even easier to kick him in the head, too, which she proved during sparring. 

“Those are much better protection for you,” Billy enthused, motioning to their chests.

“I know.We had to fight Zordon over it and we kinda borrowed the design from some artist on tumblr, but yeah,” Kim said.“Speaking of… we really should be monitoring social media.You won’t believe the theories and posts about us that are out there.I’m only really checking tumblr and Facebook, but I can’t even keep up on those, especially since people are calling us by like a dozen different nicknames.”

“Instagram is ridiculous.Videos of us are _everywhere_ ,” Trini remarked, scrolling through it on her phone.

Zack coughed, “You don’t even wanna know the shit they’re saying on Twitter.”

Billy looked at his teammates wide-eyed, “I’ve only been monitoring government channels and news reports.”

Jason took a deep breath.“So there’s a lot being said about us.And we aren’t on top of it.Alpha 5, do we have the internet here?Like besides on our phones?”

“We certainly do, Jason!” Alpha 5 enthused.

“That’s half the problem,” Trini grumbled, with a commiserating glance at Kim.

“Okay, good.Maybe Billy should monitor the government from here, not his house.Like, you are being careful about that, right?” Jason asked.

“Oh yeah, I don’t think they’ll ever find me,” Billy nodded excitedly.“And anyway, they don’t have any idea who or what we are.Right now.”

“They don’t wanna arrest us, do they?” Zack asked.

“I believe the most common phrase I’ve seen was ‘detain and question’ not arrest.”

“That still doesn’t sound good,” Kim said.“And, guys, have you heard about the insurance companies?Not covering the damage from our fight with Rita?Half the small businesses on Main Street are gonna have to close because apparently ‘Act of Zord’ is excluded from their policies.The chains can absorb the costs, but the mom and pop stores can’t.Not to mention people’s homes and cars and medical bills.”

“Yeah, my dad’s had a heck of a time getting his insurance to cover his truck,” Jason nodded.

They all fell silent as they contemplated the utter destruction the fight had caused in their town.

Trini grunted wordlessly before saying, “We need to be keeping an eye on what people are saying about us.And we need a social media presence.That _can’t_ get traced back to us.We should sell t-shirts.With that thing you drew in detention, Kim.The lightning bolt with all our colors.Sell ‘em, and donate the proceeds to the rebuilding.So people realize we’re the good guys.Make it if we ‘disappear,’ the government will look bad.”

Her fellow rangers just stared at her for a moment.“That’s… a really good idea,” Kim said.“Can we _do_ that?” 

“Let’s go back to the government disappearing us for being superheroes… how likely is that?” Zack asked.

Jason grimaced, “Let’s be careful not to find out.But yeah.Can we set up social media that’s untraceable?And what would we even _post_?”

 

Two weeks later, a self-defense video filmed by the Rangers debuted quietly on YouTube, with links to a Twitter account and an Instagram.All five wore t-shirts pulled on over their morphed armor with the Power Rangers logo, quietly and anonymously copyrighted by Alpha 5, with a link to buy the shirts “TO SUPPORT THE ANGEL GROVE RECONSTRUCTION” in the video description.The shirts sold out almost overnight once the internet noticed, and they forwarded a hefty check to the Angel Grove Chamber of Commerce earmarked to help small businesses get back on their feet.Money orders were quietly mailed to people the Rangers heard had had trouble getting their insurance companies to cover the damage of Rita’s rampage, all done via internet banking and a dozen VPNs plus the alien-origin scrambling Alpha 5 did.It didn’t cover everything, but it certainly helped, and the _Angel Grove Recorder_ praised the town’s superheroes for their efforts.

When the next alien rampaged through downtown in search of the Zeo Crystal, citizens noticed right away, scrambled efficiently out of the way, and had quietly upped their insurance policies in preparation.And the next YouTube video the Rangers posted, with their commentary on the event, plus snark at the media coverage, got a million hits within two days.

The best verbal smackdowns were saved for the people who disparaged the new armor the Pink and Yellow Rangers sported, calling it “unsexy.”Kim’s angry rant in response to _that_ quickly made the Pink Ranger a feminist icon.

 

Meanwhile, On Tumblr...

 **sabredactylshipper** : [screenshot of the Yellow Ranger] GUYS GUYS LOOK THAT'S MY DESIGN ISN'T IT?


End file.
